


I Am the Only One (On Your AM Radio)

by GalacticNB



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game), Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Also for those of you wondering why it's also labelled as A Hat in Time, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Closeted Character, Established Relationship, Everyone Is Gay, Hornet is a Giant Lesbian Who Is Closeted From Her Dad, Hornet: I don't trust like that, Mental Health Issues, Oh boy buckle up for a ride folks, Other, Pale King Is Mostly Okay, References to Depression, You'll see soon enough ;-), mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-16 01:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21262847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalacticNB/pseuds/GalacticNB
Summary: Gayle, known as Ghost by their friends, is starting their freshman year at Oakland Highschool, alongside a handful of their close friends. It's their first time at a public school and they find that it has some things that are a far cry from the tiny private middle school they used to go.Oh.And there's a supernatural force that's threatening to take over the entire town, if not the whole world.So there's that too.





	1. Bringing Him Home

Ghost excitedly hummed as they patted the seat cushion right in front of them, bouncing excitedly as they watched the landscape roll by. However, their excited patting was interrupted by a sharp jab to their side, making them yelp and glare at their friend, Hornet.

“Let me live, Hornet.” they signed out with an annoyed huff.

“You were being annoying.” Hornet replied with a huff of her own, glaring as she went back to continue sewing at the small doll that she was holding.

Before they could sign out anything else, Hornet’s mother, Herrah, interrupted, saying, “Both of you, cut it out.”

Both of the kids glared at each other before they huffed as they looked away, with Ghost glancing out the window at the landscape and Hornet going back to working on her doll. They watched as the car slowly rolled by a large sign that said “Ater Ovum Hospital”, though Ghost didn’t have any idea about what that meant.

The car then slowed to a stop, making Ghost a little confused until…

“We’re here.” Herrah said, though something seemed the tiniest bit off about her tone of voice.

Ghost excitedly gasped as they started tapping on the seat again. Wyn let out an amused chuckle at Ghost’s antics as she turned and fumbled for a second before she gripped onto the door handle.

“Do you want to come see your older sibling?” she asked with a smile on her face.

Ghost excitedly hummed and nodded as they slid over and opened the left backseat door before hopping out of the car, bouncing on the heels of their feet.

“And what about you, Hailey?” Herrah asked as she also opened her car door and opened it.

Ghost turned around and saw Hornet debating her options before she sighed and put her doll and sewing material into her bag and opened the door, making Ghost grin excitedly.

“If everyone else is going, I guess I’ll come to. Besides, someone has to make sure Ghost doesn’t wander off.” she said as she closed her car door. 

Ghost huffed a little at the insulation that they couldn’t be left alone but decided to let it slide as they closed their car door and walked in front of the car to stare up at the large, dark red brick building that stood in front of them. Tilting their head to the side, they could have sworn that it looked almost like a giant egg. However, before they could think about it more, Ghost felt a hand tap their shoulder and they turned to see that it was Hornet. Smiling sheepishly, they took her extended hand and walked with her toward the building, where Herrah and Wyn were already waiting for the two.

As soon as Ghost stepped inside the hospital, they had this strange feeling about it. Like there was something...off about it. And, the more they followed their and Hornet’s moms, the more feeling increased. Hornet seemed to notice it as well, as she pulled Ghost closer to herself and they adjusted their grip so they were holding onto her shawl. However, they were suddenly stopped by a hand on their shoulder and Hornet whipped around, pulling out her sewing scissors and pointing it at the person.

Standing in front of them, holding up his hands in a surrendering man, was a man who seemed to be in his 20’s, with slightly tanned skin, dark brown eyes, dark brown hair, and wearing a white hat, a pale gray turtleneck, dark gray sweatpants, and black sneakers.

“Hey, kids, don’t worry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” the man asked, his voice mid-toned with a slight humorous tone to it.

“Who are you?” Hornet asked, her hand never lowering from pointing the scissors at the man.

“I’m Quirrel. My wife, Monica, is the CEO of the hospital.” the man, Quirrel, introduced, tipping his hat toward them.

Ghost didn’t relinquish their tight grasp on Hornet’s hand or shawl but Hornet did lower her scissors a tiny bit.

“Quirrel? As in Quinn Rielly?” Hornet asked, her tone of voice careful and cautious.

Quirrel beamed in a very friendly manner as he nodded, finally putting down his hands and putting them into his pockets.

“Yep! I’m guessing your mother told you about me?” he asked, a slight teasing tone to his voice.

“She did. She told me about how you seem way too relaxed to be working with people like Hollis.” Hornet said, her voice curt and almost bitter as she glared at him.

Quirrel winced as his smile seemed to get a little forced before it relaxed into a more natural one as he walked past them, shrugging. He then paused and gestured for the two to follow, which they did, though only after a few seconds of hesitation.

“Being relaxed around most of the patients is the only way to get them to trust anyone. Most suffer from paranoia or anxiety of some kind so having someone like me around here does help. Or, according to Monica, they do.” he explained as they walked.

However, before either Ghost or Hornet could question more about what Quirrel had just told them, they saw Wyn, Herrah, and a strange, unknown woman all standing outside of a room door, talking about something that Ghost could barely not make out. The unknown woman had long seafoam dreadlocks, warm brown skin, dark brown eyes that seemed to twinkle with happiness, and wore a white hat similar to Quirrel’s, a pastel yellow dress, white tights, and black flats. As Ghost, Hornet, and Quirrel approached, the unknown woman turned and brightly grinned.

“Quirrel! There you are! And I see you’ve met Hailey and Gayle!” the woman said, sounding absolutely delighted about this.

“Yeah, I was heading to come see you when I noticed these two lagging behind a bit.” Quirrel said as he went forward and went on tip toes to give the woman a peck on the cheek.

The woman giggles, kissing him on the top of the head before she clears her throat and turns toward Ghost and Hornet, folding her hands together and tilting her head to the side as her eyes closed.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you two! I’m Monica Reilly, the head doctor and CEO of the hospital!” she said pleasantly, an almost musical tone to her voice.

“As much as the introductions are necessary, shouldn’t we actually be taking Hollis home?” Wyn interrupted, a nervous and slightly tired tone to her voice.

“Oh, of course! Quirrel, you have the keys to his room, right?” Monica said, turning toward her much shorter husband.

Quirrel nodded and produced a keyring from his pocket as he went over to the door. At that moment, Ghost realized that there were three locks on the door, making a strange feeling bubble in their stomach. Leaning closer to Hornet, they watched as the three locks were undone before the door swung inward. Ghost held their breath as Quirrel went inside the room and strained to try to listen the faint words that were floating out of the room. However, not even a minute passed before Quirrel exited the room with a very tall figure looming behind him.

The person, who Ghost could only assume was Hollis, had long, seemingly matted, black hair that seemed only the tiniest bit darker than Hornet’s hair that went over their right eye, a bright amber eye that seemed to peer out of the darkness of their hair, almost sickly pale skin, and wore an orange turtleneck, a dark gray cape that had what seemed to be a name tag on it, brown pants, dark brown shoes, and a white surgical mask. His gaze swept over everyone present before it settled on Ghost, seeming to glow gold for a second but, when Ghost blinked, he were no longer looking at them and his gaze was fixed on Wyn, who was giving him a bittersweet smile.

“Hello, Hollis, darling. Monica told me you were feeling well enough to come home.” she said, holding out her hand for him to take a hold of.

Hollis stared at her hand for a few seconds before he took it and squeezed it hard, making Wyn smile as she pulled him into a hug. He stiffened in the hug before he leaned against her, softly sighing before he pulled away. Hollis then walked over to Ghost and Hornet and tilted his head as he stared at the two, almost curiously. Ghost squinted and tilted their head as they looked at Hollis’s name tag, which read “M1104”, but, with their head tilted, it looked almost like it said…

“Hollow?” they mused aloud, probably louder than they should’ve.

Hollis looked down at Ghost, almost surprised, before he tugged at his cape and looked at his name tag with a squinted eye. A small muffled chuckle left him as he knelt down and pulled down the surgical mask, revealing that he had a big smile on his face as he reached and ruffled their hair.

“That’s fair enough.” Hollis spoke in a quiet tone, his voice deep and gravelly sounding.

Ghost beamed happily and giggled at their older brother ruffling their hair. However, the happy look soon disappeared from Hollow’s face as he pulled the face mask back over his mouth and then got up, their posture stiffening as they turned toward the adults, arms crossed behind their back. Ghost felt their own smile fade as they looked up at Hornet with a confused expression, only to get an equally confused look back and a shrug from her. Deciding not to let the adults the previously happy mood between the two of them, Ghost determinedly walked forward and tugged at Hollow’s hand.

“Come on, Hollow! We can go the car and I can show the games I have on my phone as they sort out all the details!” Ghost said loudly, their voice a tiny bit pleading to just be alone with their older sibling, just so that they could see him smile again.

Hollow paused, looking over at Monica and Quirrel, who both nodded and smiled encouragingly. He then turned back toward Ghost and nodded, causing them to beam as they dragged him off toward the exit of the hospital.

“Oh, I can’t wait to show you all my favourite games! We’re going to have so much fun, Hollow!” they chirped cheerfully, a skip in their step.

“Of course. You and I are going to have so much fun.” Hollow said, making Ghost cheerfully nod and hum.

However, if they had been paying closer attention, they would have noticed that his voice didn’t sound quite the same as before, and his eyes were glowing a bright gold as an almost sinister smile formed on his face.


	2. Why Are You Asking Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hornet just wants to talk to her girlfriends

Hornet would never tell Ghost this, but, as the day drew on and she watched Hollis (or Hollow, as Ghost called him) interact with everyone and everything around him, she realized that the nickname that Ghost chose for them was all too fitting.

When most people, including Hornet, talk to him, Hollow stared at them like he was staring into their very souls. His posture and movements were either too stiff, almost like an automaton that had just been started up, or too fluid, as if they were perfectly calculated like a computer. Even the way that they ate seemed strange, as they only lowered their mask for a minute to put a piece of food or to take a sip before they covered it again.

Speaking of eating…

Hornet watched as Ghost not so secretly pushed their plate toward Hollow and gestured for Hollow to eat some of their vegetables that were still on their plate. However, right as Hollow was about to pierce one of them with his fork…

“Gayle, eat your food.” Blake’s cold voice said from the head of the table.

Immediately, Hollow’s posture stiffened as they recoiled, as if they had been hit, and sat completely still, as they didn’t have food that they had to eat. Hornet watched as Ghost pouted childishly as they slid the plate back to themself and took a dejected bite out of the piece of broccoli that Hollow was going to eat. She looked over at the man who spoke with a slight glare and was about to snap at him for being so harsh to Ghost when she felt a vibration on her side, distracting her from her anger. She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out her phone, checking who had texted her, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was Lace in the group chat.

> Lacie 💖: hey who would be up for a group call???

Hornet glanced up at her mother before she slid her phone back into her pocket and pushed away from her spot at the dinner table, standing up and brushing off her poncho before turning toward her mother and bowing respectfully, a thing that she usually only did when Wyn and Blake were over.

“Mother, I’ve finished my food. May I go up to my room for the night?” she asked, folding her hands neatly in front of her.

Herrah looked Hornet up and down for a minute or two before she nodded. She was barely able to hold her joy as she went over to her mother and placed a respectful kiss to her head before she scurried upstairs, ignoring the faint talking that she heard come from Blake, though she had no doubt that it was a criticism of how she was being raised by her mother. Instead, Hornet focused on going into her room and, after making sure the door was locked, pulled out her laptop and booted it up. As she waited for it, she took her phone out and got caught up with the groupchat.

> Cloth 💟: i would!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Nola 💝: Claire, honey, chill a little bit.
> 
> Cloth 💟: LET ME LIVE!!!!!!!! >:0000000
> 
> Lacie 💖: Sooooo I’m guessing that’s a yes from both of you???
> 
> Nola 💝: Yes
> 
> Nola 💝: What about you Hornet?

Hornet giggled at her girlfriends before she started to type out her response.

> Hornet 💓: I just got out of dinner so I’m free to call once my laptop is up and running
> 
> Lacie 💖: You’re alive!! How did the whole thing with Hollis go???
> 
> Hornet 💓: Well, they get along with Ghost, but I feel like Ghost can befriend anyone. It’s just their special talent.
> 
> Cloth 💟: OH RIGHT!!!!!! I FORGOT THAT THEY WERE FINALLY BACK!!!!! Did they tell you why they moved back????

Hornet paused in her response, staring at the message. She had forgotten that she had omitted exactly where they were moving back from. But, it would probably be for the best not to tell them, as, while it wouldn’t hurt to tell Lacie or Nora, Cloth was a chatterbox who probably would forget to not tell everyone about this. And she would just feel bad if she didn’t tell Cloth whatever she told Lacie and Nora.

So Hornet decided to do another partial truth to keep up this lie.

> Hornet 💓: He’s been pretty quiet. The only person he has actually been talking to has been Ghost. And even then, he barely speaks above a whisper to them.
> 
> Cloth 💟: Awww bummer!!! :((((((((
> 
> Nola 💝: No.
> 
> Cloth 💟: I didn’t even say anything?????
> 
> Nola 💝: I know that you were thinking of.
> 
> Cloth 💟: Oh yeah??? What was I thinking then??? >:((((((
> 
> Nola 💝: You were thinking of talking to them at school tomorrow and asking them about that directly.
> 
> Cloth 💟: …
> 
> Cloth 💟: maybeso.gif
> 
> Nola 💝: Don't. You don't know why they moved back and, for all you know, it could be something unpleasant they don't want to talk about.
> 
> Cloth 💟: fiiiiiiine >:TTT
> 
> Lacie 💖: Alright, is everyone ready to call??
> 
> Cloth 💟: i am!!!!!
> 
> Nola 💝: I am
> 
> Hornet 💓: I'm ready too

And with that, the call started and Hornet quickly plugged in her headphones before she joined the call. For the most part, the call was them idly talking about the impending school year, or the already started school year when it came to Lace and Nola. However, as the conversation started to drift more towards talking about movies that the group wanted to see the next time that Lace and Nola were in town, there was suddenly a knock on her door. Hornet froze and quickly deafened herself on the call and typed out a brief explanatory message before she got up, unlocked the door, and opened it.

Standing in the doorway was none other than Blake, his arms folded behind him in a way that made Hornet reflexively stiffen up with something that not even she could name. However she overcame that strange feeling to glare at Blake, folding her arms over her chest as she huffed impatiently. 

“What do you want, Mr. Fitzroy?” she snarled, annoyed by the fact that he was interrupting precious time that she could be spending talking to her girlfriends, though she would never tell him that.

“I just wanted to talk to you, Hailey. May I come in?” he asked, his voice cold and clinical, though tinged with something that Hornet couldn’t name.

“If you can’t just say it out here, than I have no interest in what you have to say.” Hornet said with a shake of her head.

Blake audibly sighed as his arm twitched, which Hornet took as him wanted to either face palm or rub the area between his eyebrows. However, despite her protests, he still stepped into her room, making panic course through her system. Immediately, Hornet when over to her computer and slammed the laptop screen down, wincing at the extremely loud sound that it made when she did so. But, she could worry about that later, as she closed her room door, sat down on her bed, and glared at him angrily. To her surprise and annoyance, Blake didn’t even try talking to, instead taking a moment to look around her room and take in her walls of posters, sewing project plans, and other assignments that she put up on the walls as a way to remind herself to do them.

“You had something to say, ** _Father_ **?” She hissed out, feeling a small surge of pride at the way that he winced at being called that.

“Hailey…” he started to say slowly, as if he didn’t know how to word what he wanted to say.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” Hailey snapped, her eyes narrowing.

There was a quick intake of breath as rage briefly smouldered in Blake’s pale blue eyes before he sighed, the rage dissipating from his eyes. He then picked up a small doll of Celeste that she had custom made to be wearing a cute little floral dress that she had seen on some fanart, making her bristle a little at the fact that he was holding such a precious item of hers.

“Can I ask a favour of you?” Blake continued as he put the doll back, being surprisingly gentle with it.

“Depends on what it is.” Hornet retorted, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

“Keep an eye on Hollis.”

She blinked a few times and stared at her father, who know looked uneasy, something that she really wasn’t used to at all.

“Why?” Hornet heard herself say before she could stop the words from leaving.

Suddenly, the coldness returned to Blake’s face as his posture straightened and he looked down at her.

“That’s nothing you need to know. Just keep an eye on him for me. And don’t tell anyone that I asked you to do this.” he said, going toward the door and leaving before Hornet could even react or give him a response.

Hornet sat there for a good solid minute, trying to grapple with why Blake was asking her, out of all people, to watch Hollis. And why was she even supposed to watch him? However, she decided just to keep an eye on him, as she honestly didn’t trust him either, so Blake’s behaviour was only the final coffin on the decision to watch Hollis closely.

Remembering that she had been in a call with her girlfriends, she quickly went over to laptop and opened it, thanking her lucky stars that it hadn’t gotten broken. She soon undeafened herself and found that they were talking about a TV show that Lace and Nola had recently gotten into and were trying to persuade Cloth to join into the fray. And, as soon as the others realized that she had rejoined the call, they were trying to persuade her to watch the show as well, causing there to be a joking fight of which TV shows were good and which ones were awful trash.

Soon, the conversation with Blake faded from her mind and just was replaced with happy giggling and laughing with her girlfriends. But as she stared up at the ceiling of her room as she tried to fall asleep after the call had lasted ‘til nearly 10 pm, she couldn’t help but find herself worrying about what the hell was so wrong with Hollis if Blake was looking so worried and uneasy. Shaking her head, she turned on her music and snuggled into bed, her Celeste plush gripped tightly to her chest, not knowing what was in store for her.


End file.
